Thousands rally behind farm leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal at Ludhiana against Punjab land pooling policy

Four months after farmer leader Jagjit Singh Dallewal ended his fast, thousands of his supporters gathered at the grain market in Jodhan to protest against the Punjab Land Pooling Policy — a move that has already drawn the ire of landowners across the region.

The protest rally, being dubbed as a “show of strength” by farmers, has been called by the Bharti Kisan Union (BKU-Sidhupur), an outfit led by Dallewal.

Nearly 1,000 police personnel have been deployed around the Jodhan grain market to maintain law and order.

While farmer leaders, including Dallewal, and national leaders from Karnataka, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra were yet to address the massive gathering, Dallewal strongly cautioned the government against what he termed its “sinister designs” to destroy the existence of villages.

He said that farmers would not allow the government to snatch even an inch of Punjab’s fertile land under the policy.

Dallewal had earlier held a months-long hunger strike on the state’s border with Haryana against the Centre over the demand for an assured price of crops.

With Jodhan now emerging as the epicentre of the resistance against the land pooling policy, all roads leading to the grain market were choked with buses, cars, and tractors ferrying protesters from across the state.

More conservative commuters who usually travel via the Ahmedgarh–Jodhan, Dehlon–Pakhowal, and Jodhan–Ludhiana roads were seen taking alternative routes to avoid traffic congestion caused by the gathering.